Category Archives: Pictello

Ok, I’ve posted about Pictello before, how we use this app for social stories, teaching Abbey what to expect, what to do in situations. So, we’ve got stories about Going to the Dentist, for example.

We also love Pictello because it has opened up a new world for Abbey. She figured out that she loves to look at pics of herself and her family doing things. So, I make stories about our trips, about new things she does and experiences, so she can look at it all again!

Well, yes, Pictello just got even better! Not only is it very simple to use, for myself and for Abbey…but now, YES, you can ADD VIDEOS!! Wow, to see Abbey’s face, the first time she opened up one of her stories, clicked on a page and it was a video….priceless! She started off with a huge grin and then was just giddy! It adds another whole dimension! So, now to think about ways we can use this new feature to help her learn and grow….

Here’s a pdf, Growing Beans, of one short, simple story I made using Pictello, of us planting bean seeds. I hope to use it again next year and see what she can do without my help! The page in the story without words, is actually a video,:) If you have Pictello, we can share stories! I can send you a Pictello link of a story that you can put on your Pictello, to look at and use, if you’d like.:) Just let me know!

So every day, it’s something new. One thing about autism is, it’s never boring. You work on one behavior or challenge, just to have another one pop up! Yesterday it was, how do I get Abbey into Walmart because we’re out of toilet paper…yep, we made a story on Pictello about being out of toilet paper and made a grocery list in her story…worked great! The things you have to do to get toilet paper, gheesh! Today, she’s back to playing in the water in the fish tank. Yep, thought we had that one licked, so sometimes you even get to go back to an old challenge and take it on again, fun!

As you can see, from the picture, I put a bowl in the sink for her to play in. AND, added a picture of a faucet, with the words, “play in water” as a button on her iPad, so she can ask…super important! Communicating is the key to it all, we have finally figured out! She’s asking permission now before she does things, when she has a way to! Obviously, today is a water day and it’s winter, no pool. What is it with water and our kids with autism? They love it! She used to ask for baths all day, when she was younger. That was too much, got out of that one. So, sometimes you have to go with it, figure out how, not to get them to NOT play in water, but how they can. It’s like that with so many things. If you fight the challenge, it will win..you have to find a middle ground, something more acceptable, replace what you don’t want them to do with something that they like and you like too. Yeah, not always an easy task!

What worked in the past with the fish tank was a “Stop” sign. Ok, we had tried the stop signs in the past on things, didn’t work. So, sometimes what didn’t work in the past, good to take it out and try again, you never know. It seemed to work this time, yeah! Talk about an exciting day when she pulled me to the fish tank and put her hand on it, looked at me and I pointed to the stop sign…and yes, she accepted it, walked away and didn’t play in it for weeks, until today!

So, what’s your daily challenge today? Is it potty training, or something that is a daily challenge that won’t seem to end? Or is it a new challenge that just came up today? You get to be a detective every day, some days that’s pretty cool…other days, exhausting! Hang in there! Even those challenges that seem like they aren’t getting any better, usually, over time, with work, they do! Then you get to look back and feel a massive amount of accomplishment! And that, is a totally amazing feeling. Don’t forget to look back and see what you have accomplished when you’re working on your new daily struggle, it will help you have hope and the will to get through it!

We use an app called Pictello to make stories for Abbey using pictures of her, her family and her world. These stories help her to look back on things she enjoyed in the hope she will remember from her experiences, help her learn about things that are hard for her and help her to learn about things she cannot do in a very non-threatening way. She loves them and looks at them almost every day…even the Going to the Dentist one! This picture is just one page from her story called, “Abbey’s Christmas” which had learning pages like this and pages about things she enjoyed, like candy canes.:) Abbey’s story about her trip to Disneyland is entered into a contest right now, please vote for her by picking how many stars you would like to give it, http://www.assistiveware.com/disneyland …Thank you! The contest is a great way to check out all the stories people have entered, you can get some great ideas! And, Picetllo is on sale, last day is TODAY!